PREMIERE

February 28, 2019

Music of Today / DXARTS: Until Spring

Meany Center for the Performing Arts - Gerlich Theater
University of Washington Campus in Seattle

The Descent of Inanna (c. 1900-1600 BCE)

From the Great Above she opened her ear to the Great Below

From the Great Above the goddess opened her ear to the Great Below

From the Great Above Inanna opened her ear to the Great Below

Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer. Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth. (Harper & Row, New York, 1983)

These are the famous opening words of an ancient Sumerian poem, The Descent of Inanna (ca 1900–1600 BCE), describing the goddess Inanna’s journey into the underworld and her return to the world of the living. This poem, composed in the first written language in human history, and the underlying myth have lingered in literature and culture through millennia. For us, living in the 21st century, the world of the Sumerians is as remote as another planet, yet we share the same human experience of life and death, and curiosity of the mysterious line between them. I would like the listeners of my piece to treat these opening words as a gateway to my piece. It is a poetic invitation to recreate the journey with their own imagination, immersed in the soundscape of live and prerecorded sounds. 

Transliteration and alternate translation from ancient Sumerian  can be found on the ETCLS website (the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, the University of Oxford). 

A simplified transliteration for performance purposes has been provided here...

Inanna Descending utilizes over a decade of my Ambisonic recordings in unusual acoustic spaces, which have been incorporated into the electronic layer. Among others, the spaces include the Ford Worden Cistern and WWI bunkers (with soprano Anna Niedźwiedź, hornist Josiah Boothby and myself as violinist), and St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle (with Mirta Wymerszberg - bandoneon and flute, Joseph Anderson - concertina and recorders, and myself - violin). 

The voice of soprano Anna Niedźwiedź ultimately became the voice of goddess Inanna and the lead part of the piece.

Many layers of these recordings were later extensively processed among others with the use of the Ambisonic Toolkit (ATK) software, and finally composed into the final three-dimensional soundscape.

Inanna Descending allows for a variable ensemble, with an unlimited variety of instruments and voices, while the precomposed soundscape becomes the score and the foundation of the live performance. The live performance creates a direct response to those pre-recorded and transformed soundscapes. Performers are given instructions in the form of limited guidelines, with a lot of room to fill in using their own imagination, while listening to each other and to the spaces around them. Ultimately, the entire physical and perceptual space of the concert hall becomes the resonance box of an extended immersive instrument.           

Performers (on stage):

Josiah Boothby - French horn

Heather Bentley - viola

Kaley Lane Eaton - soprano

Leanna Keith - flute

Mirta Wymerszberg - bandoneon

Ewa Trębacz - sound diffusion 

In the electronic layer:

Anna Niedźwiedź - soprano (lead, the voice of Inanna)

Joseph Anderson - concertina, recorders

Josiah Boothby - French horn

Ewa Trębacz - violin

Mirta Wymerszberg - bandoneon, flute

Special thanks to:

Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS), University of Washington

Dr. Joseph Anderson, for sharing his expertise of Ambisonic sound 

Michael McCrea, for his technical support before and during the premiere 

Mark Haslam, for his on-going support for my projects and his assistance in recording sessions

The premiere of Inanna Descending on February 28, 2019 was supported by  "Listen UP! Music by Women" 2018 Artist Award from the Allied Arts Foundation in Seattle.

Listen UP! Music by Women was a cross-genre competition for new works by women composers and songwriters, was the first opportunity of its kind in Washington State. Ewa Trębacz was awarded the 2018 grant to support the premiere of her new work Inanna Descending. 

Women have been historically and systemically disadvantaged in the fields of music composition and songwriting, often receiving far fewer opportunities and resources to create new musical work than their male peers. Listen UP! Music by Women presented an opportunity for community dialogue, expression and support for the significant female talent in Washington State.